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Authors: Kathi Mills-Macias
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and drove away. As the black Honda disappeared down the street, Brad gently took Toni's arm and turned her toward him. Even his courtroom face could no longer hide the hurt she saw in his hazel eyes. “We have to talk,” he said. “Now.”
CHAPTER 4
T hey had no sooner walked in the front door than Melissa picked up her diary from the coffee table, and without so much as a word or a backward glance, disappeared into her room. Toni could only imagine what must be going through her impressionable young mind, not to mention her very tender and vulnerable heart, but she would simply have to wait and deal with Melissa after she had explained things to Brad.
Toni looked up at Brad. He stared back at her, silent and unmoving, a myriad of unspoken questions and accusations reflected in his eyes. Toni could not remember a time, in all the years they had known each other, when she had sensed such awkwardness and tension between them. “Let's sit down,” she said, determined not to have such an emotionally volatile conversation while standing in the middle of the living room. Not waiting for him to respond, she walked to thecouch and sat down at one end. Brad followed, lowering himself carefully onto the opposite end.
Even in his casual slacks and open-collared, short-sleeved summer shirt, Brad looked neat—calm and unruffled, as if he had everything under control. Toni knew better. They had known each other for so long and shared so much that she could read him like a book. She chided herself for the half-truth she had told him the day before and for not having made more of an effort to confide in him sooner about the reason for her involvement with Abe Matthews. But what was done was done; it could not be changed now. She took a deep breath, resolved to tell him everything and to see that nothing like this ever came between them again.
“I'm so sorry. I really wanted to explain to you about what was going on with Abe—”
There was a hardness in his voice she had never heard before as he interrupted her. “Just what is going on, Toni? How serious is your relationship with this… detective?”
She was fighting tears now, angry—not so much with Brad for asking such questions as with herself for putting him in the position where he felt the need to do so. “It's not serious at all,” she answered, her throat constricting around every word. “At least not the way you mean. What's going on has nothing to do with Abe and me, personally. It's about Dad—about how he died, and whether or not there's some connection between his death and the Julie Greene case.”
Brad seemed incredulous. “The Julie Greene case? Are you still harping on that? Toni, just because you have a P. I. license doesn't make you one. You went to college to become a teacher, not an investigator. Besides, in case you've forgotten, your father had a heart attack. That's how he died. Period. I know it's tragic, and I know it has hurt you deeply, but there is nothing suspicious or sinister about it. People die of heart attacks all the time, especially people with heart conditions. You're really going off the deep end on this one if you think you can somehow hang on to your dad by trying to turn hisdeath into some sort of mystery that needs to be solved. And now you're trying to tell me that the police department has sent this… detective… to investigate your father's death, based on nothing more than your suspicions about his involvement with some missing girl? Come on, Toni. You don't really expect me to buy that, do you?”
Toni felt a flash of anger at his insinuation that there was anything more to her relationship with Abe than a mutual interest to discover any previously undisclosed truth about how and why her father had died. But the anger subsided as she reminded herself that if she had been totally honest with Brad from the beginning, they would not be having this conversation.
“No. I am not trying to tell you that the police
CHAPTER 4
T hey had no sooner walked in the front door than Melissa picked up her diary from the coffee table, and without so much as a word or a backward glance, disappeared into her room. Toni could only imagine what must be going through her impressionable young mind, not to mention her very tender and vulnerable heart, but she would simply have to wait and deal with Melissa after she had explained things to Brad.
Toni looked up at Brad. He stared back at her, silent and unmoving, a myriad of unspoken questions and accusations reflected in his eyes. Toni could not remember a time, in all the years they had known each other, when she had sensed such awkwardness and tension between them. “Let's sit down,” she said, determined not to have such an emotionally volatile conversation while standing in the middle of the living room. Not waiting for him to respond, she walked to thecouch and sat down at one end. Brad followed, lowering himself carefully onto the opposite end.
Even in his casual slacks and open-collared, short-sleeved summer shirt, Brad looked neat—calm and unruffled, as if he had everything under control. Toni knew better. They had known each other for so long and shared so much that she could read him like a book. She chided herself for the half-truth she had told him the day before and for not having made more of an effort to confide in him sooner about the reason for her involvement with Abe Matthews. But what was done was done; it could not be changed now. She took a deep breath, resolved to tell him everything and to see that nothing like this ever came between them again.
“I'm so sorry. I really wanted to explain to you about what was going on with Abe—”
There was a hardness in his voice she had never heard before as he interrupted her. “Just what is going on, Toni? How serious is your relationship with this… detective?”
She was fighting tears now, angry—not so much with Brad for asking such questions as with herself for putting him in the position where he felt the need to do so. “It's not serious at all,” she answered, her throat constricting around every word. “At least not the way you mean. What's going on has nothing to do with Abe and me, personally. It's about Dad—about how he died, and whether or not there's some connection between his death and the Julie Greene case.”
Brad seemed incredulous. “The Julie Greene case? Are you still harping on that? Toni, just because you have a P. I. license doesn't make you one. You went to college to become a teacher, not an investigator. Besides, in case you've forgotten, your father had a heart attack. That's how he died. Period. I know it's tragic, and I know it has hurt you deeply, but there is nothing suspicious or sinister about it. People die of heart attacks all the time, especially people with heart conditions. You're really going off the deep end on this one if you think you can somehow hang on to your dad by trying to turn hisdeath into some sort of mystery that needs to be solved. And now you're trying to tell me that the police department has sent this… detective… to investigate your father's death, based on nothing more than your suspicions about his involvement with some missing girl? Come on, Toni. You don't really expect me to buy that, do you?”
Toni felt a flash of anger at his insinuation that there was anything more to her relationship with Abe than a mutual interest to discover any previously undisclosed truth about how and why her father had died. But the anger subsided as she reminded herself that if she had been totally honest with Brad from the beginning, they would not be having this conversation.
“No. I am not trying to tell you that the police
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